Friday 7 August 2015 14:29, UK
Ahead of Middlesbrough's Championship opener against Preston North End on Sunday, Grant Leadbitter talks to Sky Sports about moving on from last season's play-off heartache and mounting a fresh promotion challenge...
Optimism is in the air at Middlesbrough ahead of the new season, but for club captain Grant Leadbitter the pain of their Championship play-off final defeat is still fresh in the memory.
“I don’t think you ever get over the disappointment of losing such a big game,” he says as he reflects on the 2-0 defeat to Norwich that denied Boro a long-awaited Premier League return. “But you’ve got to move on in football. If you don’t, you’ll start slowly and you’ll be playing catch-up. We don’t want that, we want to get out of the traps quickly and perform like we did for the majority of last year.”
Leadbitter’s mentality mirrors that of the club. Last season’s Wembley heartache has only increased their desire to earn promotion, and they have responded with a show of ambition in the transfer market. Stewart Downing has returned six years after leaving his boyhood club for Aston Villa, and the 31-year-old is not the only new arrival at the Riverside.
Chelsea defender Tomas Kalas has returned on loan along with Watford midfielder Diego Fabbrini, and there has been a considerable outlay on the Uruguay striker Christian Stuani. With the quality already at their disposal and more spending expected before the end of the transfer window, it is little wonder they are the bookmakers’ favourites for promotion.
“The new signings have come in and strengthened us and that’s full credit to the owner and the chairman for backing the manager,” says Leadbitter. “We’ve brought in some quality players and that will only help us.”
Downing’s arrival is particularly exciting. The England international appeared in all but two of West Ham’s Premier League fixtures last season, and Leadbitter says his quality can bring out the best in his team-mates. “Stewy knows the club and knows the area,” says Leadbitter. “He’s a big fans’ favourite at the club and it’s always good to have players like that around because it makes you want to do better and it makes you want to improve – that’s what we’ll be looking to do.”
Boro have high expectations of Downing this season, but Leadbitter’s contribution will be equally important. The former Sunderland man is a key player and a leader for Aitor Karanka’s side, and last season the 29-year-old highlighted his importance with 11 goals and nine assists from midfield as Middlesbrough finished fourth with the best defensive record in the division.
Not even top scorer Patrick Bamford directly contributed to more Middlesbrough goals than Leadbitter, and his importance is not lost on Karanka - who has just signed a new four-year contract at the club. "He is one of those players who impressed me when I first came here,” the Spaniard said last season. “He is the kind of player who is a strong character and is always working. In bad moments he is always there."
But Middlesbrough under Karanka are built on togetherness and team spirit, and Leadbitter points to a dressing room full of leaders. “When you go through the bad times you need characters in the dressing room to turn to,” he says. “When you have a good dressing room it helps. You need good players and good personalities, and those are things this club has got in abundance.
“We’ve also got a manager who makes sure there is always good characters in the football club,” he added. “And on top of that, we’re all good players and we’re looking forward to playing with each other this year.”
He’s really, really good. Every player likes him so that’s always a positive. He’s great to work with.
Leadbitter has thrived under Karanka, who honed his coaching techniques as Jose Mourinho’s assistant at Real Madrid before making the move to Teesside in November 2013. The 41-year-old has transformed Boro from relegation candidates to promotion favourites in under two years, and reaching the Premier League seems like a logical next step.
“He’s really, really good,” enthuses Leadbitter, who is hoping to return to the Premier League for the first time since his departure from Sunderland in 2009. “Training is great and intense and that helps us on the weekends. Every player likes him so that’s always a positive. He’s great to work with.”
Middlesbrough’s first test of 2015/16 comes at Deepdale on Sunday, and Leadbitter insists Championship newcomers Preston won’t be taken lightly. “We know what to expect,” he says. “They were great last year, they won at Wembley and they will still be on a bit of a high. I know they have got some very good players, so it’s going to be a tough game. The atmosphere is going to be bouncing so we have to produce.
“We came up a little bit short last season and we’re looking to get over that and go one better, but to do that we have to start the season well. We started strong last year and we want to do the same this time around.
“We’re training hard every day and we’re going into every game looking to win. We don’t want to set our goals in stone, we just want to win games. If we do that we’ll be near the top of the table fighting for honours.”
Watch Preston v Middlesbrough live on Sky Sports 5 HD on Sunday from 11.55am
